


The Ache for Home

by Draycevixen



Series: The Ache for Home [1]
Category: The Professionals
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Weekly Obbo Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-03
Updated: 2011-04-03
Packaged: 2017-10-17 12:00:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/176642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draycevixen/pseuds/Draycevixen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cats don’t bark, politicians never tell the truth and Bodie would never live long enough to have a home and children.</p><p>Written for the Weekly Obbo Challenge: Wonder</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ache for Home

**Author's Note:**

> _The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned_. -- Maya Angelou.

.

Cats don’t bark, politicians never tell the truth and Bodie would never live long enough to have a home and children. Others had wrestled with their conscience and worked diligently towards their vision of a better world. Bodie had preferred to let his actions be informed by his own empirical sense of the world that knowledge governing every risk taken, every bond not formed.

Nevertheless here he was, drinking hot chocolate in his cosy kitchen while watching his grandsons frolic in the snow. Perhaps he would, after all, live long enough to hear a politician tell the truth.

He winced in sympathy as Danny, his youngest grandson, popped up from behind the cover of a hydrangea bush and fell under a hail of sibling wielded snowballs. Danny looked so much like Keith had at that age, a shock of blond hair falling in to midnight blue eyes that Bodie’s breath caught at the memory.

 

***

 

Bodie had been happy, really happy for the first time in his life. In the aftermath of Mayli’s attempt on Doyle’s life, Ray had clawed his way slowly back to health with Bodie at his side every step of the way. With shifting priorities came a new awareness of each other. Feelings long bottled up and ruthlessly thrust to one side had suddenly become the easiest thing in the world to confess to and act upon. Bodie had found himself part of plans for a future.

The call had come at 5:00am in the morning. Doyle had insisted on accompanying him for the long drive to Liverpool, Ray’s hand resting lightly on his thigh the only thing anchoring Bodie in the face of his sister and brother-in-law’s senseless deaths at the hands of a drunk driver.

He’d met Keith for the first time at the hospital, tiny and fragile against the pillow, his arm in a monstrous cast, the boy was scared to death. Bodie’s sister had written to him regularly, sending pictures of her only child but Bodie had been an uncle in name only, sending presents, saying a few words to the lad when he’d rang his sister at Christmas, never having once been to visit in Keith’s six short years of life. Keith was a stranger to him, yet Bodie knew even then that Keith would be going home with him and heaven help anyone who tried to stop him.

As it happened, it hadn’t been a problem. His sister’s solicitor had explained that her will named Bodie as guardian. He’d also asked some leading questions about Bodie’s life and job circumstances and explained the harsh realities of his brother-in-law’s cousins looking for a reason, any reason, to be able to take guardianship away from Bodie in their attempt to control Keith’s inheritance.

It hadn’t surprised Bodie when Cowley had accepted his resignation without question. Cowley had, after all, always understood duty above all things. Cowley had even found a job for him working with a security company, a desk job with regular hours, something that even a desk job with CI5 couldn’t have guaranteed him. That had been the easy part. What Bodie had really been dreading was the inevitable confrontation with Ray although he needn’t have worried. Ray had understood, of course he had. He’d helped Bodie to find a nice ground floor flat with a small garden near a good primary school. In the month before Ray had started training with Macklin again he’d even babysat Keith several times. And if, in the middle of one too many sleepless nights alone in his bed for the first time in months, Bodie had found himself resenting just how easy Ray had made it for him, he’d never have been churlish enough to have admitted to it. He’d also had to stop himself from asking Doyle to give up CI5, recognizing that he’d lost the right to be involved in any decisions about Ray’s life.

On his seventh birthday Keith had told him that he had something important to ask. Bodie had put down the newspaper to give Keith his full attention, recognizing the thrust of Keith’s jaw as determination to see something through. Keith had asked, in a voice just a little too casual sounding, if it would be all right if he started calling Bodie “dad” as it would just be... easier for everyone. That was the day that Bodie had finally been sure that he’d made the right decision for them both.

Keith’s teen years had been turbulent. Bodie constantly repeated to himself something his grandmother had always said about “blood will out” but Bodie knew every trick in the book from having pulled them himself and managed to always be one step ahead, keeping Keith out of serious trouble.

On his sixteenth birthday, Keith had sat Bodie down and told him they needed to have a man to man talk.

“I want to talk about you and Uncle Ray.”

Bodie tensed. “What d’you mean?”

“I’m not a bloody idiot, dad. Ten years of your sneaking about, you didn’t think I’d notice?”

“...I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Give over. You love each other. It’s as plain as the nose on your face.”

“Oi! It’s your nose too.”

“You’ve taught me to do what’s right and you two being apart isn’t right. It’s a wonder that you’ve both given up so much for me and I’m grateful but he’s getting out of CI5 and it’s time you had something for yourself. We’ve got a third bedroom if you want to keep up appearances though it doesn’t bother me either way. I’m sixteen now, could legally live on my own if I wanted to, not that I want to. They can’t take me away from you anymore and—”

“Enough! I’ll talk to Ray.”

 

***

 

“Penny for your thoughts.” Ray’s arms slipped around Bodie’s waist, staring over his shoulder.

“That our Danny needs to learn to keep his guard up.”

As Ray laughed, Bodie leaned back in to home.

 

.


End file.
